ZILINA, Slovakia — Kia Motors is preparing for a New Year production launch of the Hyundai Tucson at an ultramodern new plant in this northern Slovak city near the Polish border. The company plans to sell the Tucson in Europe under the Hyundai ix35 name.
Kia's Zilina plant, which opened in 2007, is one of Europe's most modern car plants and has a high level of automation. It has specialized in production of Kia's c'eed models. Last year it produced more than 201,000 vehicles for the Europe market, with about 5 percent of production going to the Ukraine and 18 percent to Russia. The target for 2009 has been to produce about 150,000 units, which will increase significantly with the advent of the SUV's production. Kia sources say that Zilina's factory is capable of producing eight different body styles, but the Tucson will be only the fifth, so there is room to grow further.
In addition, the Korean owners of the Slovak plant plan to build another plant for engine production, due to the fact that existing facilities are running at full capacity of 300,000 units in three shifts.
The Zilina plant is located very close to a new Czech Hyundai factory that opened earlier this year, specializing in the production of Hyundai i30 and Kia Venga minivans. With this product division, it is logical that the new Kia Sportage will be produced in the Slovak facility starting in mid-2010.
Inside Line says: Hyundai/Kia plan to take full advantage of their shiny new facilities in Eastern Europe. — Evgeniy Vorotnikov, Correspondent
Add A Comment »
crispalicious says:
11:32 AM, 12/07/2009
@ notabigdeal
These two links might help answer your questions.
Hyundai Genesis Full Test:
http://www.insideline.com/hyundai/genesis/2009/full-test-2009-hyundai-genesis-sedan.html
Sport-Luxury Sedan Comparo:
http://www.insideline.com/bmw/5-series/2009/2010-mercedes-benz-e550-sport-vs-2009-bmw-550i-sport-vs-2010-jaguar-xf-premium.html
Either way, Hyundai is pretty much following in the steps of the Japanese automakers in making their vehicles equal to or better than their exisiting competition for cheaper to build their brand name (if you look at Honda, Nissan, Toyota's history, they made similar moves a long time ago). It's a personal thing if you feel like this is a good or bad thing, but seems like Hyundai is mimicking the leading competition throughout their whole line, as well as Kia's line (look at the styling of the Forte vs. the Civic, the look and feel of the Genesis vs. the G37, etc.).
danielfuchs says:
10:54 AM, 12/07/2009
Great news for Slovak auto industry which has been very strong in the last decade and it's just going to get stronger in years to come. Glad to see my home country becoming an automobile hub in central Europe!
notabigdeal says:
08:03 AM, 12/07/2009
Speaking of hyundai, on their new website they claim that the Genesis is faster then the BMW 550i through the slalom, breaking, and 0-60 (a hyundai in 5.3 secs). Can someone check if this is true? Also, apparently the 2010 Genesis got some cool updates. Either way if Hyundai's claim is true, then that is some piece of history. Since when did hyundai match (at least attempt) up to BMW's performance in anything. I know the Genesis has its compromises somewhere as it is 20k cheaper then a 550i.